Boys Will Be Boys
by Shilom
Summary: A friendfic involving character from PoTC. Dedicated to Leila.
1. Chapter 1

"I will covet all your treasures!" a young James shouted, waving his plastic sword around in the air.

"My treasures you can have, Matey," little Jack replied, pushing his long dark hair from his face and smiling. "For you will be buried with them!"

"Boys!" They both spun around to the voice. "Time for lunch!"

"Aw, man, your mom has to ruin everything!" James objected to Jack as they headed towards the house. "I was just about to send you to your death!"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Sure you were, James."

"Peanut butter and jelly!" James groaned as he slumped into his chair at the round, wooden table. "Aunt Shilom, pirates don't eat peanut butter and jelly!"

"Sometimes pirates don't eat at all," Shilom stated wryly, giving him a look that implied the double meaning. "Now finish up, your parents will be here soon."

"I don't know why they need alone time," James complained, poking at his sandwich. "Why would they ever wanna be apart from me?"

Jack laughed. "Gee, I dunno, James. Why would anyone ever wanna be apart from _you_?"

James glared at him and started peeling the crust off his sandwich. "You're just jealous. I'm a way better pirate than you!"

"No, _you're _jealous! My dad's the best pirate ever and yours is just a stupid admiral or whatever!"

"Jack," Shilom warned. "Don't talk about your uncle James that way."

"Sorry, mom," he apologized. He turned back to James as she left the room and whispered, "But it's true."

James opened his mouth to argue back when they heard the front door open and his parents appeared. "Mom, dad!" he exclaimed, dropping his lunch and running to greet them. He looked them up and down then asked, "Why are you guys all red and out of breath?"

Leila giggled and James responded, "Oh, well, we were just in a hurry to get back to you, son!"

"Making more?" Shilom whispered low enough that the boys couldn't hear.

"Perhaps," Leila told her, smirking. "We want at least two more."

James raised an eyebrow. "Two? I thought we were going for more?"

"Well, we'll see. It's not like we have to stop playing at trying anyways."

Shilom giggled. "Well, I could always use more nieces and nephews!"

Little James heard that. "I don't want any brothers or sisters," he whined. "Jack's annoying enough!"

"_I'm _annoying?" little Jack countered.

"Yes, you are!" little James spat back. "When's uncle Jack coming home, anyways?" he asked, turning back to his parents and aunt.

"Well, he'll be home soon enough," Shilom shrugged. "He found a map for a big treasure deep within the ocean. When he called yesterday he said he was getting close."

"Ooh, that's exciting," Leila said enthusiastically. James shot a glance at her. "What? It is."

"Pirating," James spat. "When is he going to get a real job?"

Leila nudged him, nodding towards the boys. "Jack has a real job, James," she replied. "It's just very different from what you do."

"And not as dependable," he said dryly.

Shilom rolled her eyes. "When are you two going to get over your differences? You get along well enough. You're brothers now!"

"Don't remind me."

"I wanna be a pirate like uncle Jack!" little James said excitedly, jumping up and down and not seeming to notice his father's distate for the profession. "It's _so_ cool!"

"My dad's cooler than your dad," little Jack whispered, audible to the two women but not to his uncle.

"Jack!" Shilom warned him. "Be nice!"

Little James just shrugged. "He has a point!"

Leila glared at her son then grabbed him by his arm. "Time to go!"

"But, mom," he whined. "I was just about to steal Jack's treasure!"

"No you weren't!" little Jack objected.

"We don't steal, young man," James corrected him, glaring alongside his wife now. "No son of mine is going to be a pirate!"

"Yes, I am!" his son spat back. "I'm going to be the best pirate since uncle Jack!"

"That's enough, young man. Time to go." James grabbed his other arm and gave Shilom a disapproving look. She just shrugged.

Leila reached over and hugged her twin. "It's okay," she whispered in her ear. "James will come around."

Shilom smiled and whispered back. "Which one?"

Leila giggled. "Senior." She paused, then looked at her son. "He does make a good pirate, doesn't he?"

"Of course he does," Shilom cooed. "Look at that long, blonde hair. And he has the attitude of a pirate already!"

"Shh, James will hear you," Leila hushed her, then pulled away. "See you guys tomorrow for the backyard barbeque!"

"Bye Aunt Leila and Uncle James!" little Jack said sweetly, hugging and kissing them both goodbye. "See you tomorrow!"


	2. Chapter 2

James awoke from his nap to the sound of pellet guns and banging. "What's that?" he grumbled as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. "Leila? Honey?"

He heard little James laughing and screeching at an ear-splitting tone, his wife laughing lightly in return. He followed their noises through the hallway and to the dining room. Through the sliding glass doors behind the dining table he saw the two of them outside.

And they were dressed as pirates.

He began to march to the door, infuriated, then paused. His son was standing outside, his side facing him, with a grin that stretched from ear to ear. He had a pellet gun in one hand and a plastic compass in another.

Leila, his always breath-taking wife, was facing little James with her hands in the air in surrender. She was trying, and failing, to hide her own smile behind a pout. At her feet laid a drawn up treasure map and some fake, gold coins. "You ga' me, Matey!" she called to her son in a piratey drawl James had never heard her use before. "I surrenda'!"

"Arr!" little James grunted, drawing a big, plastic sword one might use for a party prop. "Yer walkin' thee plank!"

"No, no! No' dee plank!" Leila pleaded, her eyes growing as she bent to her knees. "Honor among thieves!"

"No honor, just death!" little James exclaimed, clearly enjoying himself.

"You'd kill yer own mum?" she threw out there, all traces of the smile now gone. Little James' own smile faltered as he considered this.

James Norrington had had enough. He slid open the glass doors, drawing his family's attention for the first time. "What is the meaning of this?" he demanded.

Little James dropped his sword, gun and compass and quickly shot a look to his mom, who was standing and removing her pirate apparel.

"Oh, James, we were just playing," she told him loosely, trying to brush the incident away.

"Is this what you do when I'm not around?"

The two exchanged a worried glance. "It's not real, honey. It's just a game."

James grunted. "A game, huh? I'm sure it all started as a game with Jack, too." He turned and glared at his son. "Go to your room!"

Little James began to open his mouth to object, but the look his mother gave him told him better. He shut his mouth and ran inside.

Leila approached her husband now, wrapping her arms around him and nuzzling against his cheek. "You're overreacting a bit, don't you think?"

James pulled away, not returning her affections. "If you wanted a pirate, you should have married a pirate."

She looked into his eyes now, sadness in her own. "But I wanted you. I married you. I love you."

He sighed, looking into her eyes as his heart softened once again for her. "I don't want our son being a pirate," he told her, feeling his words fall away.

"He's our son. Whatever he decides to do or be, we'll still love him, will we not?"

James sighed again, looking away from her. "Yes, of course, but that's not the point. I want him to want to be better. We have to raise him to be a good man. We can't let him decide on his own. Later, maybe, but not now."

"But it's just pretend. If you forbid all play of pirates, it makes it that more appealing," she reasoned.

She was right, and he knew it. "I-I just don't like it." She kissed him then, and he felt all reservation slip away from him.


End file.
